Noelle Damico’s Statement in Response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Department Inspector General report “Unannounced Inspection of ICE’s Florida Soft-Sided Facility in Ochopee, Florida”
In response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Department Inspector General report “Unannounced Inspection of ICE’s Florida Soft-Sided Facility (“Alligator Alcatraz”) in Ochopee, Florida,” Noelle Damico, Director of Social Justice at the Workers Circle, released this statement:
We welcome the Inspector General’s report which confirms what people who are detained and their family members have been saying all along: conditions inside Alligator Alcatraz were inhumane. Alligator Alcatraz was a place where torture was normalized, really a daily procedure. The effects of this torture on the lives of people who were detained and their families continue today even after the facility was shuttered in June.
For 47 consecutive weeks the Workers Circle organized a broad-based Freedom Vigil outside Alligator Alcatraz, where we heard firsthand about the inhumane treatment of the people inside. These vigils drew tens of thousands of community members to the gates of this detention facility, maintained sustained public pressure on the state and federal government, launched an investigation into torture by Senators Ossoff and Durbin, and contributed to the facility’s ultimate closure.
While the Inspector General’s report and its findings are important, they barely scrape the surface. A much deeper investigation and consequence for the harm done, is needed. In light of the extreme and illegal manner in which people were held, the U.S. government needs sustained investigation into the abuses at Alligator Alcatraz and restitution given to people harmed there.
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En respuesta al informe de la Oficina del Inspector General del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos, titulado “Inspección sin previo aviso del centro de estructuras temporales de ICE en Ochopee, Florida (‘Alligator Alcatraz’)”, Noelle Damico, directora de Justicia Social de The Workers Circle, declaró:
Recibimos con satisfacción el informe del Inspector General, que confirma lo que las personas detenidas y sus familiares vienen denunciando desde el primer día. Las condiciones dentro de Alligator Alcatraz eran inhumanas. Era un lugar donde la tortura se volvió algo normal, parte del día a día de quienes estaban detenidos allí. Las consecuencias de ese maltrato siguen afectando a estas personas y a sus familias, incluso después de que el centro cerrará sus puertas en junio.
Durante 47 semanas consecutivas, The Workers Circle organizó las Vigilias por la Libertad frente a Alligator Alcatraz. Allí escuchamos directamente los testimonios sobre el trato inhumano que recibían las personas dentro del centro. Estas vigilias llevaron a decenas de miles de miembros de la comunidad hasta las puertas del centro, mantuvieron la presión pública sobre el gobiernos estatal y federal, ayudaron a impulsar una investigación sobre tortura por parte de los senadores Jon Ossoff y Dick Durbin, y contribuyeron al cierre definitivo del centro.
Aunque el informe del Inspector General y sus conclusiones son importantes, apenas muestran una pequeña parte de todo lo que ocurrió. Hace falta una investigación mucho más profunda y que haya consecuencias por el daño causado. Ante la manera extrema e ilegal en que estas personas fueron detenidas, el Gobierno de Estados Unidos debe mantener una investigación seria y exhaustiva sobre los abusos cometidos en Alligator Alcatraz y la indemnización a todos los afectados.
About the Workers Circle:
The Workers Circle is a 126-year-old national Jewish social justice organization founded by Eastern European immigrants who came to the United States fleeing autocracy and persecution and seeking democratic freedoms and economic opportunities. That history drives the organization's work for an inclusive democracy and human equality today. Through strategic and impactful social justice initiatives, vibrant Yiddish language classes and programs and interactive educational activities, the Workers Circle powers a growing multigenerational community of 250,000+ activists creating meaningful social change, building transformative coalitions and demanding a multiracial multicultural democracy for all.
